Association of Anesthesia Type with Outcomes after Outpatient Brachiocephalic Arteriovenous Fistula Creation

Brachiocephalic arteriovenous fistulas (BCFs) are commonly placed in outpatient settings. The impact of general anesthesia (GA), regional anesthesia (RA), or local anesthesia (LA) on perioperative recovery and fistula maturation/patency after outpatient BCF creations is unknown. We evaluated whether outcomes of outpatient BCF creations vary based on anesthesia modality.

The Vascular Quality Initiative (2011-2018) national database was queried for outpatient BCF creations. Anesthesia modalities included GA, RA, and LA. Perioperative, 3-month, and 1-year outcomes were compared between GA versus RA/LA anesthesia types.

Among 3,527 outpatient BCF creations, anesthesia types were GA in 1,043 (29.6%), RA in 1,150 (32.6%), and LA in 1,334 (37.8%). Patients receiving GA were more often younger, obese, Medicaid recipients, without coronary artery disease, and treated in non-office-based settings (P < 0.05 for all). GA compared with RA/LA cohorts were more often admitted postoperatively (5.3% vs. 2.4%, P < 0.001) but had similar rates of thirty-day mortality (0.9 vs. 0.6%, P = 0.39). 3-month access utilization for hemodialysis was lower in GA than in RA/LA cohorts (12.6% vs. 23.6%, P < 0.001). The Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that GA and RA/LA cohorts had similar 1-year primary access occlusion-free survival (43.6% vs. 47.1%, P = 0.24) and endovascular/open reintervention-free survival (57.2% vs. 57.6%, P = 0.98). On multivariable analysis, GA compared with RA/LA use was independently associated with increased postoperative admission (odds ratio [OR]: 1.7, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.08-2.67, P = 0.02) and decreased 3-month access utilization (OR: 0.39, 95% CI: 0.25-0.61, P < 0.001) but had similar 1-year access occlusion (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.09, 95% CI: 0.9-1.32, P = 0.36) and reintervention (HR: 1.02, 95% CI: 0.82-1.26, P = 0.88). On subgroup analysis of the RA/LA cohort, RA compared with LA was associated with increased 3-month access utilization (OR: 1.6, 95% CI: 1.01-2.5; P = 0.04) and 1-year access reintervention (HR: 1.46, 95% CI: 1.12-1.89), but had similar 1-year access occlusion (HR: 1.2, 95% CI: 0.95-1.51, P = 0.13).

Compared with RA/LA use, GA use in patients undergoing outpatient BCF creations was associated with increased hospital admissions, decreased access utilization at 3 months, and similar 1-year access occlusion and reintervention. RA/LA is preferable to expedite recovery and access utilization.